


Parent's Just Know

by Bowtiez



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, Spider-Man - All Media Types, Spider-Man: Homecoming (2017), The Avengers (Marvel) - All Media Types
Genre: Awesome Pepper Potts, Cute, Domestic Fluff, Family Feels, Family Fluff, Fluff, Good Friend Ned Leeds, Illnesses, Married Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Ned Leeds is a Good Bro, Nicknames, Parent Tony Stark, Peter is a Little Shit, Platonic Cuddling, Precious Peter Parker, Protective Ned Leeds, Protective Pepper Potts, Protective Tony Stark, Sick Peter, Sick Peter Parker, Sickfic, Teen Peter Parker, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Feels, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark is Good With Kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-17
Updated: 2019-06-17
Packaged: 2020-05-13 06:32:47
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,062
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19245754
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bowtiez/pseuds/Bowtiez
Summary: Peter Parker has been hiding colds and flus from his uncle Ben and aunt May for years. They're just busy, and he's really good at hiding it. Besides he can deal with it by himself, no need to get them worried, right?Peter really shouldn't of assumed that it would be the same case with Tony Stark and Pepper Potts. He didn't expect himself to deteriorate this quickly, but that doesn't mean he needs to be coddled like achild- but, oh, actually its kind of nice?





	Parent's Just Know

**Author's Note:**

> I just watched End Game and it hurt my feelings :C
> 
> So, to make myself feel a little better (and for the spirit of Father's Day) I made this little feel good fic. Worked into the early hours of the morning, so mistakes might be around. 
> 
> Some cute parental Tony and Pepper taking care of cute little bean Peter.

“You look terrible,” Ned told his best friend. The friend in question was slouched over on the table in Chemistry. Peter’s skin was flushed, and Ned was sure if he reached over and poked the other’s cheek, he’d feel an increased temperature. 

“Thanks, Man,” Peter mumbled into the inside of his elbow, tilting his head slightly so his ear was resting on his forearm; messy curls falling over his tired eyes. “Late patrol.” 

“Yeah, I don’t think so-- well, maybe you were out late, but this-” Ned gestured to all of Peter, “isn’t just sleep deprivation.” 

“Come on, Ned, Spider Man doesn’t get sick,” Peter mumbled under his breath, just loud enough for Ned to hear if he leaned into it. 

“Clearly he does,” Ned raised an eyebrow. “How’d you manage to slip past May like that anyways?” 

“She’s gone this week; some work thing- hence getting away with the late-night patrol.” Peter explained, coughing into his elbow before letting his head flop down again. 

“You’re alone? Dude, I don’t think you should be sick like this alone at home.” Ned frowned, genuinely worried about his friend’s well-being. “Hey, you could come home with me? My mom’s great at taking care of people when they’re sick- and she makes the best soup, plus you’re already practically her son.” 

“No, Ned,” Peter mumbled into his jacket sleeve followed by a light laugh, “I don’t need your mom to take care of me, thanks for the offer though. My fast metabolism will probably have this cleared up by the night- and besides, I’m going to the Avenger’s Tower tonight. Mister Stark and I are doing some upgrades on the suit.” 

“You’re Spider-Manning to the Tower?” Ned scowled, arms crossing across his chest like an angry parent. 

“No.” Peter shook his head, a dizzy spell following, “Mister Stark is having Happy pick me up after school. He wasn’t pleased the last time I swung to the Tower- apparently May gave him an earful about it.” 

“Didn’t you hit one of the windows?” 

“Okay, it was only a small crack, and Mister Stark is a billionaire- it was an easy fix!” Peter pouted, lifting his head, then dropping it down again. 

“Sure, Peter,” Ned shook his head. The bell for class rang, silencing the two friends. 

“You should rest. I’ll copy the notes and we can photocopy them in the library Monday or something.” Ned whispered, not looking up from where he was already copying the notes on the smart board, nor looking at Peter. 

“Ned, you’re a godsend.” Peter whispered back, exhausted eyes blinking shut. Peter was not desperate enough to actually fall asleep in class, he’d be beyond screwed if the teacher suddenly called on him and he jolted awake with a string of drool on his chin- talk about embarrassing. 

Peter drifted silently in and out of consciousness, mind barely holding onto the things being said, but knowing Ned had his back one-hundred percent. His head was starting to pound in his skull, and every little sound made his Spidey-senses go haywire. 

He was sweating and he knew his face was probably an interesting mix of pale and flushed, but he was freezing and really thinking about going to his locker for another jacket before school ended. 

Ned elbowed his arm lightly five minutes before the class ended so he could look awake before he had to get in a car with Happy, who was no doubt expecting overexcited puppy Peter Parker in the car with him. 

The bell rang, and slowly Peter packed up his blank notes page, unused pen and the tissue he’s been subtly rubbing his nose on through the class. The two followed behind the crowd to their side-by-side lockers. 

“Honestly,” Peter questioned at his locker, Ned pausing his packing up at his own locker beside Peter to glance at his friend, “on a scale of one to ten, how sick do I actually look? I mean, like, could I pass off as being cold?” 

“Solid seven.” Ned rated after giving him a once over, “are you planning on lying to Mister Stark?” 

“No, not lying, just- not, y’know... telling him?” 

“Peter,” Ned groaned, clearly judging him but not saying anything else. 

“I’m fine,” Peter told his friend, reaching up to rub his awfully tired eyes, “totally fine. I just don’t want Mister Stark to, like, not let me in the lab. He’s really protective of it, you know?” Peter sneezed into his elbow right after, practically defeating his previous statement. 

“Peter, you should be resting anyways. You haven’t been sick since like- before the bite! That’s like two years now.” Peter shook his head. 

“Look, I have to go, Happy’s waiting- and so is Mister Stark probably.” Peter called, slipping on a second sweater and bunching it up in his hands, protecting everything except his face from the (barely) harsh fall breeze. 

“Okay, my window’s always open if you need it. Mom’s always got ingredients for soup too!” Ned called as Peter stumbled out the doors. He loved Ned, but sometimes his best friend was more of a Mother Hen than a fifteen-year-old boy. 

Outside Peter saw Happy’s shiny black Audi parked as far away from the student parking lot as possible. He remained in the car, since Peter knew the man wasn’t a fan of teenagers. Peter liked to think he was one of the only exceptions. 

Peter put on his best excited expression, hyping himself up at least 10x more then he actually felt. If he couldn’t fool Happy, then how was he supposed to lead Tony along? 

Peter had never made a big deal of sicknesses. He’d spent so long sick as a little kid- ranging from asthma induced coughing fits to strep throat to ear infections. His parents could usually tell when he was feeling bad, a paternal and maternal thing or something- his mother was especially good at this. 

May and Ben weren’t as good at it. Plus, he was getting older, and he had better things to be doing then lying in bed sick. 

Then when Ben died, May had to pick up extra hours, and she took the weekend shifts because there just wasn’t enough money. They barely saw each other. So, it was easy for Peter to just skip out of the house without her knowing when he was sick. He was the kind of kid who didn’t want people to be worried about him, especially when May already had so much on her plate. 

“Hey, Happy!” Peter grinned as he pulled the door open and plopped himself in the backseat. Thoughts of his family still swirling around in his head. 

“Hey, Kid,” Happy replied, waiting just long enough for Peter to shut the door before pulling out of his parking spot and hightailing it out of the parking lot. The movements of the car were making Peter nauseous, not that he’d admit it, and it seemed that any movement in general brought on a pounding headache. 

Peter tried conversation with the man, like usual, only he let it go when he was unsuccessful in the first few minutes. Peter couldn’t remember a time that he’d let the car fade into a comfortable silence, but it was actually kind of nice. 

Happy didn’t seem to mind, and if he did, he didn’t show it. 

Peter settled his head against the window, clammy hands curling into fists inside the sweater’s he had on his body. The coolness of the window felt wonderful against Peter’s heated skin, and he sighed quietly. 

When they reached the Tower, Peter jolted from his definitely not asleep lean against the door with the sound of Happy’s voice. 

“Tony’s waiting, Kid.” 

“Yes.” Peter agreed before his mind could catch up, “I-I mean, I know. Yes, I know... Tony- Mister Stark’s waiting.” Peter shook his head in an attempt to form coherent thoughts before flashing Happy the brightest smile he could muster, “Thanks, Happy. I’ll see you uh, Sunday night? Yeah, Sunday. See you!” 

Peter was sure his face was brighter than just a sick flush at this point. That hadn’t been smooth, but luckily- he's never been smooth. 

Peter made his way into the building. He passed quickly by any employees or interns who may want to converse and made his way to the elevator Friday was in ran. Friday was in charge of the special elevator that only went to the penthouse and the Avenger’s part of the Tower, well, unless you’re Mister Stark, and then it can stop on any floor. 

“Welcome, Peter,” Friday greeted. 

“Hey, Fri,” Peter muttered, rubbing his nose on his sleeve now that he was alone. 

“Peter, it appears that your temperature is averaging at 103.4 degrees Fahrenheit. That is a fever. Would you like me notify Boss?” 

“N-no, no. No thank you, Friday. I’m fine.” Peter promised the AI. “Please don’t tell Mister Stark,” he added quietly. 

Friday was quiet, and Peter wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or a bad thing. The elevator started moving and the movement instantly made his stomach drop and another wave of dizziness cloud his vision. 

“As you wish, Peter.” The AI relented. “Should the fever reach 105 degrees Fahrenheit, it will fall under ‘Tummy Ache’ protocol and I will have to inform Boss.” 

“Yes, okay.” Peter coughed into his arm, “thanks, Friday.” 

The ride up was mostly quiet. Peter listened to the hum of the elevator (which sounded like a hive of bees to his super hearing). 

When the doors opened to the penthouse, Peter stumbled out, tripping over his own tired legs, but he successfully managed to not stumble into anything or hit the floor. Peter’s breath hitched as his vision blurred for a second before clearing. 

“Hey, Sweetie,” Peter looked up. Pepper was standing in the doorway between the kitchen and the elevator. 

“Hi, Pepper,” Peter smiled in return. Pepper looked like she’d been waiting for him to get here, and it made his heart warm up at the thought. 

Pepper smiled brightly at him, waving him into the kitchen with her, “I just made a quick snack, if you wanted some before you head down to the lab?” 

Peter nodded, despite the fact the thought of food made he feel like he was going to throw up the breakfast he hadn’t bothered eating that morning. There was nothing in him to throw up, but his brain was still threatening it. 

By the looks of the quick snack of peanut butter on some fancy crackers, he knew that the snack was more so for him then herself. 

“So, how was school? Tony told me you were competing in a Decathlon competition this week?” 

“Oh, yeah, we did. On Tuesday. It was awesome. We won, by like three points. The other team was just as good as us.” Peter told her as he ate one cracker, having to force the food down. “Ned answered this one question super-fast- and like no one knew the answer but him, and then MJ just like speed answered three questions in a row without the host finishing the questions. I beat this other kid at the buzzer like a split second before he did. You should’ve seen it!” 

“That’s awesome Peter,” Pepper reached across to ruffle his hair, pausing her hand after a second. A look of confusing crossed her features, but before she could move her hand for a better reading on his heated skin, Peter leaned back, her hand retreating as he did so, “you should let us know the next time and place, maybe Tony and I can make it?” Pepper brushed off whatever she’d been thinking, and leaned on her elbows to observe him. 

“That would be awesome,” Peter grinned. He needed to cough, but he wasn’t going to do that with Pepper already giving him a mom look. He choked on the tickle in the back of his sour throat, debating shoving a cracker in his mouth just so he could pretend to choke on it and cough. 

“Are you cold?” Pepper asked suddenly. 

“Um, I- yes. How’d you know?” Peter looked at her in confusion. 

“You’re wearing two sweaters, Honey,” Pepper reminded with a small smile. Peter looked down in realization. Oh. Right. 

“Oh, yea, it was super cold in last period. Everyone was freezing. Guess it gave me a chill.” 

“Friday, could you turn the heat up a couple degrees,” Pepper requested. Peter prayed silently that the AI kept good on their elevator conversation. “Better?” 

“Yes,” Peter nodded, the heat in the room had risen quickly and it felt nice and comfortable for his cold frame. Peter blinked his eyes shut as heat warmed his bones. 

When he opened his eyes, Pepper was looking at him like she wanted to say something, but the shrill ringing of her phone drew in her attention first. She huffed out a breath frowning at Peter before answering the call. 

“This is Potts,” she answered. Pepper walked out of the kitchen, intensely arguing with the person on the phone. Peter coughed as quickly and quietly as he could, but it was almost a hacking cough after holding it in. When he felt like he was no longer about to claw at the tickle in his throat, he made quick work of disposing of the crackers and peanut butter. 

The smell of the sweet peanut butter was already making his stomach churn with that one lone cracker in it. 

When Pepper returned, phone still pressed to her ear, she eyed the empty plate. Peter waved, quickly making his way to the elevator. She returned the wave, then her face contorted into frustration and Peter felt that she’d want to be alone to rip the person apart via phone. 

“Lab, please,” Peter requested, voice hoarse. He rolled his eyes at the suddenness of it. His health was plummeting tremendously. When the elevator started moving without any quips from the sassy AI, Peter assumed his temperature had remained the same in the twenty minutes he’d been up with Pepper. 

Tony was already in the lab, as assumed, and loud ACDC music vibrated the bulletproof glass protecting the million-dollar lab. Peter scanned his hand, and the door clicked unlocked. 

The music was super loud inside, and Peter fought the urge to place his hands over his ears and scream. The beat of the song sent a pulsing thrum of pain through his head. 

“Hey, Mister Stark,” Peter yelled over the music. He flinched, as his voice cracked and pain shot through his throat. 

It was enough for Tony though, who swiveled around in his chair to grin at his mentee. 

“Oh, hey, Kiddo. Took you a bit. Ran into Pep upstairs I take it?” 

Peter nodded quietly. He stepped closer, shaky hands moving to unzip his bag and grab his suit. 

Unbeknownst to Peter, Tony took that time to study his boy. He noticed the pale complexion, two sweaters and even the crack of the boy’s voice that couldn’t possibly be puberty. Pepper had been right about Peter looking sick. She’d sent him a text warning him to take it easy on his kid. 

Peter looked like death. Tony eyed the boy’s pale face, but took note of his flushed cheeks. The double up on sweaters could not be helping. Tony could see the teens frame shaking from where he sat, and then there was the fact that Peter looked as though he was about to collapse. 

“Got it, Mister Stark-” 

“Kid, we’ve been doing this lab, avenger’s training, weekend sleepover thing for like a year now, I think you can call me Tony.” 

“R-right, sorry, Tony.” Peter nodded shyly, “I have my suit. There’s a hole I need to patch, and I think Karen’s been malfunctioning a little; y’know, just locking on instant kill mode for like a minute.” Peter explained, a little cough following. Tony frowned. 

“You okay, Kiddo?” Tony asked. The man chewed his lip as he eyed the boy. Peter froze, like a deer in the headlights before nodding his head hurriedly. 

“I’m fine Mister St- I mean, Tony.” Peter gasped, eyes watering as he coughed once more. “Perfectly fine, why?” 

“It’s just that your face is pretty flushed, you really shouldn’t be wearing two sweaters in here, Pete. Friday’s already turned up the heat. You still cold?” 

“N-no, I forgot I was wearing two,” Peter flashed a grin before unzipping his second sweater. He shrugged it off, an involuntary shiver following the loss. 

The kid was definitely sick. Tony narrowed his eyes, wanting nothing more than to kick the kid from his lab and take him upstairs to watch one of his stupid movies he’s always trying to get him to watch. 

He didn’t though. “Alright, let’s take a look at that suit of yours. Karen’s acting up, you say?” 

“Yeah, I don’t know why. She’s been perfect since you gave it to me.” 

\-- 

They worked for a couple hours, Tony keeping close tabs on his kid. Peter had to be feeling shitty. You could see it just by the way he was barely holding himself up. 

“You tired?” Tony questioned after the boy yawned for the fourth time in the past twenty minutes. 

“Oh, no. It was a late night. Got home at about four and had to get up for school at about six.” Peter mumbled absentmindedly. The screwdriver dropped from Tony’s hand and onto the work bench. 

“Huh, and May was good with that?” 

“Pff, no. May’s out of town.” 

“Since when?” Tony’s face scrunched up in surprise. 

“Uhhh, Saturday. Back on Monday or Tuesday, I think?” Peter mumbled. He was resting his upper body on the table, head curled into his arms. 

“Pete, you know you’ve got curfews. Do I need to have Karen babysitting you? Send hourly reports to me and call me when you’re out past bedtime?” Tony questioned. It was a teasing tone, but he wasn’t kidding. 

“No,” Peter laughed, voice strained. Tony didn’t respond, instead shook his head and sent his kid an adoring look. Peter missed it completely, eyes shut and breaths even on the bench. 

“Boss, Ms Potts would like me to inform you that she’s looking for you and Mr. Parker for dinner.” Friday interrupted the silence. Peter groaned, tilting his head to glance at Tony with slivered eyes. 

“Up and at ’em Squirt. The boss is looking for us for dinner.” Peter stumbled to his feet. 

He was even shakier now, if that was possible. Concern tugged at Tony’s heart. He snaked an arm around the boy to help balance him. Tony couldn’t feel any heat through the boy’s sweater, but he was positive the boy was burning up. 

“Pep’s probably gotten something good delivered for us. She loves you, you know. Always spoils you.” he continued talking, if only to calm himself down. Peter smiled, eyes blinking sleepily. 

“I love her too.” 

“Yeah, everyone does.” Tony agreed with a laugh. Tony helped the boy into the elevator, where Peter pulled away and steadied himself. Tony watched, but didn’t say anything. 

“About time you boys get here,” Pepper teased when the doors of the elevator opened in the penthouse. 

“Hey, we were working, Pep. Loads to do. Spider Kid kills his suit on each patrol.” 

“Oh, I can imagine,” she teased Peter. It seemed to go straight over the boy’s head. 

The two adults shared a look before tony cleared his throat. 

“Let’s get to eating, I’m starved.” Pepper laughed, while Peter stepped close to Tony for a second before continuing to the table. Pepper had ordered Thai food, which was one of Peter’s favorites. 

The three served themselves. Pepper and Tony both concerned with Peter’s small portion. With his wicked fast metabolism, there was no way that would tide the boy over. 

Neither said anything though, just continued usual dinner talk. Pepper talked about her day, and about that prick whom she’d been on the phone with and Tony talked about new designs for the Iron Man suit he was working on. 

Peter remained silent; throat incredibly sore at this point. 

“Why aren’t you eating, Sweetie?” Pepper asked, voice full of concern. She’d been watching him, just like Tony and both were worried now. She knew he hadn’t eaten those crackers. And now he wasn’t touching dinner. 

“Not hungry,” Peter admitted quietly. 

“Okay, that’s enough, Kiddo. What’s up?” Tony stood up, rounding the crouch beside Peter. 

“I don’t feel so good, Mister Stark.” Peter said in a small voice, face pained as he swallowed. Tony’s hand brushed Peter’s curls from his forehead, settling his palm against the boy’s forehead. 

“Jesus, Pete.” Tony gaped, “Pep, he’s really hot.” 

Pepper moved to feel the boy’s forehead as well, lips puckering in thought as she moved to brush her fingers down his face and to stroke across his heated cheek. 

“Friday, Dear, what’s the kid’s temperature at?” 

“Peter’s temperature has gone up since his last reading of 103.4 degrees Fahrenheit, and is now residing at 103.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Peter is experiencing symptoms of both the flu and common cold. Also showing early signs of strep throat.” 

“Thanks, Darling,” Tony frowned. “Jesus Peter, how long have you been sick?” 

“Couple days?” the boy mumbled. Pepper was rubbing Peter’s back as the boy hacked a cough into his elbow. 

“And you’ve been alone,” Tony concluded, piecing everything together. Peter nodded hesitantly, and Pepper looked ready to rage. 

“Oh, sweetie,” Pepper cooed at Peter. 

“You’ve got to call, Kid. When you’re sick like this. I don’t care if you’re a super kid or not- and you were at school like this?” Tony told him, feeling his head once more, because he simply couldn’t believe Peter was this sick and they hadn’t mentioned anything. 

“Hey, how about we all get into some pajamas and watch a movie in the living room?” Pepper suggested, fingers curling to scratch lightly against Peter’s back. “We can get Peter some tea, and see if there’s anything in the lab for his metabolism. Have you tried Tylenol and cold and flu medicines, Honey?” 

Peter nodded slightly, tilting his head back to look at Pepper. 

“Something of Cap’s will work. Maybe Bruce’s. You go get changed, Kiddo. We can all meet in the living room. You can even pick the film.” 

Tony was the first to arrive in the living room. A packet of Cap metabolism proof ibuprofen tablets. Peter wondering next. One of Tony’s old t-shirts covering his torso and a pair of pajama pants on his lower half. 

Peter crawled onto the couch, curling into Tony. Peter wasn't usually so open about cuddling, but he enjoyed nothing more than hugging and curling up against a father figure, since they were so hard to come by for him. Tony simply wrapped and arm around his kid and carded his fingers through the boy’s hair. Peter’s eyes blinked shut and his face relaxed at the action. 

When Pepper came in, she was in satin pajamas, holding a fluffy king-sized blanket and a steaming mug of tea. 

“Here, Pete,” she handed it to the boy, and Tony popped two of the pills into his other hand. Peter took both without complaint, throwing the pills back and sipping slowly at the tea. 

Pepper took the tea back from his shaky hands before throwing the fluffy blanket over Peter and Tony, then snuggling up against the sickly teenager under the blanket as well. 

“Your pick, Pete,” Tony reminded as Peter curled into his chest, right next to the Arc Reactor. The Reactor’s very slight hum was comforting, and Peter wiggled his way closer to it. 

“Uh, Star Wars- any of them...” 

“You heard the man, Friday,” Tony grinned. 

They settled into a comfortable silence. 

This was nice, Peter couldn’t help but think. Tony’s gently hand carding through and tousling with his hair, and Pepper’s nails scratching lightly across his back over his t-shirt. 

Peter’s eyes drifted shut as the calming sounds around and the gentle touches relaxing his body even further. And for the first time since he’d gotten his powers, his head and throat didn’t have sharp stabbing pains. The power of very, very powerful medications. 

“You should sleep, Squirt,” Tony whispered, and Peter did just that. Surrendered his consciousness entirely knowing that his parents were watching over him.

**Author's Note:**

> Please comment thoughts, opinions and any ideas you have! Everything makes me super happy! I always read and take each comment into account :D  
> Kudos are also awesome! Gotta love those kudos'
> 
> Thanks so much if you do, I appreciate it!
> 
> I hope you enjoyed!


End file.
